Lost in Dichotomy
by TeaTaster
Summary: Former Oso Academy student and curent MWPSB inspector, Shimotsuki Mika never thought that she would one day find out what had happened after enforcer Kougami had fired that last bullet. Forced to face her past mistakes and come to terms with Makishima's return, Mika soon discovers that the finest men will challenge you to make the most troublesome decisions.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Psycho Pass characters. Please enjoy the story!

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**Lost in dichotomy**

**Chapter 1: Reconcile truth**

As inspector Tsunemori Akane went through the last details of their recent pursuing case, inspector Shimotsuki Mika stared diligently into her holographic screen, her wrist bracelet computer rolling up pages and pages of information. It had started off as a simple, eventless morning but in a matter of minutes, they had received a lead on their wanted suspects and now there they were, outside a residential building, trying to break into the secured perimeter as they pointlessly fought off the scorching heat. In the midst of her reading, Mika could clearly hear Akane's collected voice:

'Shion will be offering us assistance in breaking through the security system. As soon as we do, please keep in mind that our top priority is to apprehend the suspects. Allowing them to get away would only empower Tetra.'

At the sound of the familiar name, Mika frowned and abruptly turned off her screen in response. She detached herself from the wall she had previously been leaning on and after strengthening her black jacket over her matching pants, she went to post herself besides Akane, head lost in meditation. Her fellow partner continued explaining the situation while enforcer Ginoza patiently listened with the other two enforcers apart for Kunidzuka who communicated online with Shion in an attempt to deactivate the impending security system. Tetra, the infamous terrorist organization, had become in the last few months, the highest oppressing force against the Sybil system. With unknown whereabouts and fake identities of its comprising members, Tetra recruited tainted Psyco Pass owners for their mission to bring the Sybil system down to its knees and restore chaos and freedom. Members apparently ranged from intellectuals to murderers who blindly followed the orders of some unidentified leaders and corrupted public safety with each opportunity. It was that secluded and vial leadership that Mika aspired to dissolve. The thought of capturing the ones responsible with the breach of order was enough to make her blood boil under that unperturbed mask of hers. It was not as if she had a burning desire to acclaim her skills or prove herself but she had once sworn to herself to do all in her power to punish the guilty and deliver justice in the name of her position. Mika had gotten quite used to her profession in the 2 years since she had first joined the MWPSB but she owed it all to her partner, inspector Akane Tsunemori who, despite having treated her with no reserve as she had promised, she had also graced her with immeasurable trust. She had never once felt left out and the feeling of equality promoted by Akane between the two, sufficed in establishing a good reputation for Mika. If Akane extended that particular type of reliance because she had been offered the same or had been deprived of it from her newbie days, Mika could not tell yet it ensured a perfect teamwork for them and helped them work efficiently on each assigned case. The fact that they were both fairly similar in character also contributed to their friendship and professional relationship. It was only that, at times, Mika would be very impatient and she figured that the two hackers they were pursuing for their faults of leaking important information about the Sibyl system to Tetra and anyone who would buy it, would lose their patience fairly soon, as well. As she looked up at the clear sky, a sudden thought occurred to her. Without warning, she sprinted on her feet and dashed in another direction.

'I'll be back!' Mika announced, drawing the attention of a confused enforcer Ginoza. Akane, on the other hand concentrated on cracking the security code their suspects had locked on the premises of their flat, urging Kunidzuka and Shion to hurry up. Half annoyed with Akane's lack of reply, Ginoza fled in Mika's pursuit.

'Please wait, inspector Shimotsuki! I'm coming along.'

To his surprise, Mika entered the adjoined building and without further explanation got into the elevator with Ginoza.

'What are you planning to do?' He curiously asked the inspector, highly suspicious of her spontaneous act.

'You'll see,' Mika replied, clutching her Dominator as she exited the elevator at the top floor and went straight for a metal door at the far end of the hallway. Ginoza advanced in his footsteps right behind her until they got out on the rooftop, silently disagreeing with her condescending tone. Ever since she first arrived, he had noticed that she was highly independent and preferred to act based on a dangerous combination of instinct and circumspection. She was good at what she was doing, she even showed a higher level of maturity than the one inspector Tsunemori displayed on her first day but she remained detached, as if afraid of having any valuable ties with anyone. And the fact that when she looked at you she could see right through you, was what got on everyone's nerves but also harvested productive results in her line of work. But if Ginoza could attribute her behaviour patterns to anything it would be connected with her friend's death at the Oso Academy. Losing someone dear to you would clearly leave scars. In the end, death changes people. It changed _him_. He was suddenly awakened from his reverie when he suddenly realized what Mika had in mind.

'Inspector, I hope you're not planning to…'

Ginoza's sentence was left suspended in the air, cut off by Mika's decision to leap through the air, jumping on the rooftop in front of them. She had landed safely under the wide-eyed observation of Ginoza who had the sanity to stay behind, uncertain if he could even make it to the other side. Mika had always been the athletic type; while performing poorly in martial arts or hand-to-hand combat, she indulged, however, in any available sportive events and was a natural at horse-back riding, if she was to believe her club activity professor back at the Oso Academy. In that old-fashioned academy, she avoided getting involved in any artistic clubs –for she had no real talent for the fine arts – and instead took up pastimes that would keep her mind and body sane. In the era of commodity and accessibility, being open to test your limits and free your body were far more important to Mika than any stress management classes everyone around her seem to take for fear of clouding their Psycho Pass. If she could, Mika would tease Ginoza for his irrational anxiety of unconventionality but she concluded she had better things to do when the door to the rooftop she had landed on, was slammed aside and two young men came running in her direction. The two men – whom she identified as the suspects- gasped upon seeing her blocking their escape route and while one of them stopped in his tracks, the other pushed forward, past her.

'One of them is coming your way, Ginoza. You know what to do,' she subtly instructed, pointing her own Dominator at the panicking suspect that stood behind. In less than a second, the familiar computerized voice rang in her ears and her pupils flashed light blue.

**Crime coefficient is over 150. Enforcement mode is Non-Lethal Paralyzer. Aim calmly and bring the target under control. **

Second thoughts aside, she pulled the trigger, paralyzing her suspect to the ground. A loud discharge behind her indicated that the other suspect hadn't been as lucky as this one and was now most probably lying in tiny pieces in a puddle of blood. A few meters behind the surviving criminal, Akane had made her way to the rooftop along with the remaining enforcers, their own Dominators at the ready. At the sight in front of her, Akane lowered the deadly weapon and nodded at Mika in approval:

'Good job, inspector Shimotsuki.'

Inside the suspects' shared apartment, the collecting evidence drones were busily inspecting the area, moving throughout the entire length of the living space. It was a typical flat, where you would expect hackers and computer literates to live in, stacked with gadgets and screens of all types and sizes. It was no wonder those two had such easy access to the Sibyl system database, Mika thought to herself.

'I doubt we'll find anything specific since they changed locations often and they worked on different servers but at least they won't be able to get in contact with their clients now', Akane supplied, glancing to her watch to check the time. Mika recognized her partner's behaviour pattern and decided to lend her a helping hand.

'Inspector Tsunemori. I can wrap up things here so you can leave earlier.'

The expression change in Akane had been instant; she looked as if she really wished to leave the place and tend to another pressing matter yet her duty sensibility always won over her wishes, which was why Mika considered it was best to insist.

'It's alright, you don't need two people to take care of such little work so please feel free to go.'

'It would be unfair towards you.'

'Your privilege of seniority,' Mika announced bemused, her light tone reassuring Akane of her genuine concern for her.

'Then, I'm going to take you on that offer. I owe you one, Mika,' Akane Tsunemori waved at her as she hurried out, leaving Mika to regroup everyone and head back to headquarters. She did not think it was unfair, in fact, Akane had been so professional and supportive towards Mika that this was at least she could do. Whenever they finished earlier, her partner would always leave to conduct her personal investigation on a certain Kougami Shinya. Mika had never met the man but she did read the files and she knew perfectly well that Kougami Shinya was a former MWPSB inspector and currently an enforcer on the run who had lost Sibyl's favour after having broken the rules to hunt down the notorious criminal Makishima Shogo. From what she could gather, Akane and Kougami also shared a strong friendship and in the name of that emotional connection, her partner was doing everything in her power to meet him again. Mika did not know for what purpose but she figured that everyone had people whom they couldn't let go. She herself had a friend she could not forget; Kagami's face continued to haunt her even after all this time, still waking her up in the middle of the night with accusatory eyes.

Before she could leave the suspects' main room and head downstairs with everyone, something unusual caught her attention. An odd sensation crept up her skin, drawing her closer and closer to the table on which the object had been placed. Mika reached out for it hesitantly but when Kunidzuka's voice made its way through the hall, she grabbed the object and hid it underneath her jacket, behind her back. With the object safely secured and hidden, she abandoned the flat and went down to join her team of enforcers. While three of her enforcers had gotten into their assigned van, Ginoza Nobuchika remained standing outside it, wearing an obvious expression of opposition. Mika sighed internally, anticipating his judgemental sermon.

'Next time, I would appreciate it if you'd let me know about your course of action,' he uttered, trying his best to keep his voice neutral. Mika, in exchange, allowed a reply with deadpan sincerity.

'I didn't think it was necessary to explain myself since I usually pair up with Kunidzuka and as you know, she doesn't ask many questions and complains far less than you do, enforcer Ginoza.'

'If you're trying to get away with that excuse, then it's not going to work, inspector. How many times have I told you to stop being so reckless? You go on your own, you make selfish decisions and what's worse is that inspector Tsunemori is indulging you! ' Ginoza passionately voiced out, hinting that he had abstained himself for more than it was acceptable for a man of his patience. She listened to his speech slightly dejected with how the situation presented itself, a bit too offended by how he slipped Akane's name into the equation, diminishing their trust to something less than it really was. She took a chance to intervene, with the serenity and calm before a storm.

'Don't you find strange?'

'What?', came Ginoza's troubled inquiry. He clearly did not expect the irrelevant question. At the sound of that, her own voice became authoritarian and her brown eyes bore into his own.

'That an enforcer is scolding an inspector?'

'I have the experience for it,' he stated matter-of-factly.

'The same experience that brought you where you are now?' Mika challenged before she could properly mule over her words. It was too late to take back the words now, she concluded upon seeing Ginoza's pained expression stabbing her with clock-wise precision.

'I'm sorry, I went out of line'.

Fortunately, the apology broke through the tension as Ginoza sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose similarly to how a parent would react in front of their rebellious child. In moments like these, Mika admitted to herself that indeed she was reckless but above all, she was straightforward and that was far more difficult to condone by everyone around her. In the past, she always got teased and repressed by her friends and family for being excessive with her sincerity but that was who she really was and she couldn't change her impulse of telling people how she felt about matters and what she actually wanted. She preferred to be treated in a similar manner yet, in their present times, courtesy had precedence over honesty and she could see why. Feelings had to be taken into consideration and this was one of those situations, especially since Ginoza did not deserve the impolite treatment. After his father's death, Ginoza became overprotective and due to her young age, Mika had been included in his protective custody as well, benefiting from his good will and acceptance. Inspector Tsunemori was not the only one who indulged her.

A man passed by them and she suddenly remembered that they were outside, among civilians. A certain instinct urged her to look after the man that had passed, signalling Ginoza's attention back to her and he watched in trance as her hand took out the dominator from its black case and aimed it at the apparently common person. When the gun provided the alarming Crime Coefficient, she pulled the trigger with no remorse, causing the man to disintegrate in front of them exerting blood and screams from pedestrians.

'This is exactly what I'm talking about!' Ginoza incredulously cried out at Mika's impassive profile. She glanced back at him, a bit taken aback by his reaction.

'But you know that the street scanners have been corrupted in this area and his stress level wouldn't have been picked up by our sensors. I couldn't have just let him go, could I? You saw yourself that he was a target.'

Ginoza seemed to have given up on his mission to socially educate her; he shook his head at her explanation and said in a faintly bitter tone:

'I don't even know if I should be grateful for or afraid of that ability of yours.' He then proceeded to join his comrades in the van, leaving Mika to stare down at her gun. Ginoza's words resonated within her and reminded her of the reason why she was called 'god-eyed' at the Public Safety Bureau. She did not need a Dominator to tell her that someone was a bad person nor that they had a high crime coefficient, she could see all that by herself. She had that 'ability', as Ginoza had put it, since long ago but she never put too much thought into it and maybe that had been her greatest mistake. If she had trusted her instincts, she would have known for sure that Oryou Rikako was a truly dangerous person and she wouldn't have told her friend Kagami about it but instead, should have confronted her by herself and maybe avoided a pointless death. It was her fault that her friend had died and she could not forgive herself for it. On that day, she promised herself to spare no one and act upon her strong sense of justice. She would not make the same mistake twice even if that meant she had to point Dominators at people she could easily read. That conviction was probably what made her the youngest inspector in history to ever enter the service of MWPSB.

Back at headquarters, Mika took out from the inside of her jacket, the object she had confiscated from the suspects' home and placed it on her desk. She stared at what turned out to be an old book and tried to explain to herself the presence of the unusual object in the possession of such owners. After several thoughts that crossed her mind and which she dismissed vehemently, she realized that the only one who could answer her questions would be the remaining suspect himself. With no further explanations to her team, she placed the book in a small bag and went to pay a visit to their latest criminal acquisition.

Depending on how clouded their Psycho Passes were, criminals that had been paralyzed by Dominators would most often be taken to rehabilitating and imprisoning institutions where they were kept under surveillance and offered therapy till the rest of their lives. Mika hated those institutions and she got reminded of how much she disliked them whenever she had to step into one for work purposes. Everything inside was white and appropriately structured, which gave it a curious claustrophobic characteristic that suffocated you until it eventually drove you insane. Each 'resident' was locked away in an immaculate glass cell with a guaranteed 24 hours a day assistance and observation period from the team of doctors and psychologists that were at disposal. Some of them died, some of them lived, some of them got out and most of them never left the place. But she wouldn't dismiss the place just yet; a majority of their enforcers came from these institutions and they turned out to be cooperative in most cases. She was finally escorted to a cell at the far end of the third floor.

'How do you like it here?' She questioned the suspect she had arrested a couple of hours ago, hoping that the obnoxious question would speed things up and make him talk to her. He did look back at Mika, frowning severely as he recognized who she was but he made no move to get up from his bed nor did he show any sign of wanting to answer her verbal request.

'I have some questions for you,' she tried again.

'And I have no answers.'

She expected the reproachful tone, giving the fact that she had been the one to shoot him but she had confidence that if handled correctly, the man would turn out to be more talkative. He was fairly young, pleasant in appearance but visibly stubborn. She had to act cautiously but since that was not exactly her forte, she opted for her straightforwardness. Taking out the book from her bag, Mika pressed it on the glass panel separating the two and asked another question, this time intensifying her tone:

'What's a hacker like you doing with a book in his room?'

'What? Just because I work with computers doesn't mean I don't read,' he confronted her mockingly but the flinch in his eyes when he saw the book did not pass unnoticed by Mika.

'Just one book? In that big room filled with computers you only had one simple book. If you read, as you say you do, then you'll have more than one book.'

'I download books as well, alright? I just liked that one and I bought it. What's the harm in that?' The man finally got up from his bed, not liking where the conversation was leading them to. Outside the cell, Mika did not feel intimidated.

'This is an expensive book. Whenever you computer geeks make some money, you make sure to spend it on gadgets and software not on printed material, so don't try to fool me into thinking that you actually spend such an impressive amount of money on a few pages.' She paused, checking for any signs of cooperation from his part but her remained unaffected and so she felt obliged to continue.

'There are three ways through which you could have acquired this book; you either stole it, found it or someone gave it to you. Now, you don't actually strike me as the stealing kind when you're not dealing with information, nor do you give the impression of a benevolent citizen that would save a book from the dirt therefore the only explanation would be that someone gave you this book. I'm interested to know who did it.'

Once again, her revelations were insufficient and his lips continued to stay sealed despite the evident shadow of worry lingering in his eyes. She was getting closer to elucidating the mystery but in the end, he held the missing piece of the puzzle and it was up to her to convince him to provide it. Being the calculated person that she was, Mika decided it was time for a change in tactics. She came closer to the separating glass wall and lowered her voice, as if sharing a secret.

'If you cooperate, I can pull some strings and get you out of here sooner.'

'You don't have that power,' the man smirked sadly and Mika cursed his successful career choice that allowed him to break into their system and collect information about an inspector's attributes.

'You're right, I don't. But there is something that I can do. As you may know, all your equipment is in our custody at the moment and after our specialists are done analysing it, we will destroy it,' she announced, satisfied to notice that her words finally peaked his interest. 'I'm sure your belongings have some sort of value to you, if not emotional, at least a material one. If you answer my questions, I can easily suggest to my higher-ups to hold on to your equipment for a while, invoking some arbitrary excuse about their potential usefulness in the future which will help delay their expiring date. And one day, who knows, if you behave, you might get selected as an enforcer and get out of here, thus reuniting with your electronic devices. It's highly possible, you already checked our data base so you know how things are done at the Public Safety Bureau.'

The outcome of the situation practically exuded success; Mika could see the man weighting the possibilities in his head, his earlier defences broken.

'Or I can just leave and we can both forget this conversation ever took place. I'm simply trying to save up time because I am positive that I will find out who this book belongs to, sooner or later. The choice is yours and I advise you to stop protecting whoever it is that you're protecting and act in your own interest.'

A few seconds passed in silence as he thought about what to do, starring at the ground, almost demanding the answer from the white pure tiles. He shifted, clenched his fists, uncomfortable in his own body and mind and Mika was about to initiate another round of negotiations when the man finally turned to look at her.

'A woman gave me the book,' he finally spoke.

'A woman?' Mika asked almost instantly.

'Yes. She gave me the book in exchange for information about the Sibyl system. She didn't have the money but she said that if I sold this book, I would get double the required amount. She was right, I checked. And just as you said, it's a very expensive book.'

Mika nodded, coming to terms with her assumptions.

'Can you tell me the name of the woman?'

'I don't know it.'

She looked at him with tamed disbelief but enough to flag his sensors. He still tried to sell his white lie much to Mika's consuming patience.

'Look, it's just a business transaction, I sell, they pay. I don't ask them about their dreams and passions.'

She took a moment to make solemn eye-contact after which she detached the book from the glass window and dropped it back inside her bag.

'You're lying. And I think you know a lot more than just her name.'

Having spent the last three hours in the car, inspector Shimotsuki Mika sped up her vehicle, wishing to reach her destination faster than it was physically possible. She had left the city behind hours ago and was currently driving with shocking velocity on a solitary highway, mentally replaying the previous conversation she had with the hacker over and over again. She didn't actually expect him to provide her with something substantial but he had eventually told her that the woman's name was Himeko and provided her with her address. Mika had also contacted Akane but not to let her know about her findings but to inform her that she would like to take the day off. She felt bad for lying but she couldn't have alerted her team for what could turn out as a fake lead or even worse, a trap. She had to do this herself. Indeed, it felt dangerous parading over there without a Dominator at hand but she was not allowed to take it on leisure trips and convinced herself that today, she was only going to test the waters, without doing anything unnecessary. Half an hour later, she parked her car at a bordering forest and followed the only visible trail slithering through the trees. Not knowing what to expect, she checked her computer wrist bracelet from time to time and noticed that the area was highly unstable; the internet connection fluctuated and no sensors were available in certain parts of the woods. _It might not be a fake lead after all,_ Mika mused. She walked continuously for half a kilometre until she spotted a large glass house reigning at the centre of a clearing. It might have been wiser to remain in hiding for a few minutes and inspect the surroundings but a certain man, reading seated at an outside table in front of the house, subconsciously forced Mika to abandon the safety of the forest. She starred at the silver-haired man in pure shock, wondering if the heat had finally gotten to her in the form of seeing apparitions. Mika found herself walking towards him against her will, floating on air and drawn to him as if she was spell-bound and it was only when she reached his table and the supposedly deceased Makishima Shogo raised his golden eyes from his reading papers did she realize how far she had stepped into the lion's den. He delicately put the papers away to reassure her of his full attention and greeted in the most sincere tone Mika had ever heard in her life:

'Good afternoon.'

'I…came to return this.' Mika said dumbfounded, pulling out the book from her bag and placing it on the table, near his papers. Her eyes had stayed on him all the time, hypnotized by his calm and by the sinister circumstances. She was in the middle of a forest, conversing with one of the most dangerous criminals in history unable to grasp the situation or even begin to understand how it was possible for him to still be alive.

'That book actually belongs to me,' a feminine voice reached her ears and Mika turned so swiftly she nearly lost balance over her disobeying feet. Upon seeing the woman's face, Mika felt herself shrinking, faintly trembling with distress, realizing that there was no miracle that could assure her safe departure from that place. She couldn't believe her eyes, starring into another murderer's face, one that was attached to a seemingly nice woman and one that she could remember clearly after reading his file, the Specimen Case, repeatedly due to its connection to her former alma mater, Oso Academy. She read that he had had a twin sister but the files said she had died years ago. Then again, the files said Makishima had died as well and yet, there he was, enjoying a stress-free life in the most ecological place in Japan.

'From your reaction, it seems that you might have an assumption in regard to my identity but I will introduce myself nonetheless,' the woman offered sweetly. 'My name is Kouzaburou Himeko. I am also known as Kouzaburou Touma's twin sister.'

She tried to keep her calm and relax her muscles, breathe even but it was all too much for her to process. As an act of desperation, she turned her head to Makishima.

'Why are you still alive? Kougami Shinya shot you.'

'Kougami…Shinya?' Makishima asked confused and looked over to Himeko, as if demanding an explanation. Without further delay, Himeko replied but no to Makishima.

'There's no point in asking him these questions, inspector,' Himeko advised arranging the tray of refreshments she had been carrying all this time on the table, also proving that she knew with whom she was dealing with. 'Shogo has been an amnesiac for almost two years now.'

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**A/N:** Well, this is it for the first chapter, I hope you will be kind enough to leave a review if you are looking forward to the next part. I have decided to bring back Makishima since he is such a challenging character to write about and explore the past of Touma's twin sister. If you check online sources, he apparently had one. As for Mika, hopefully you all remember her from her academy days; in my opinion she was a character with great potential and proved to be really interesting in the last episode of Psycho Pass and I somehow think that these two would have a fascinating relationship. :D


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